Nats wrap up NL East title despite loss to Phils

WASHINGTON -- Amid the postgame delirium on the field, the crushed beer cans and strewn champagne bottles collecting in the grass, pitcher Gio Gonzalez grabbed Washington Nationals owner Ted Lerner and steered him toward the gaggle of players celebrating the club's first NL East championship.

"Ted, this is your party!" the effervescent left-hander yelled. Then, turning toward teammates, Gonzalez shouted: "Hey! Who's got the cooler? This is the man, right here!"

A Win-Lose Situation?

At 96-64, the Nationals have a chance to finish with the best W-L record in MLB. That's one title, however, they may not want to hold. Here's a look at how past NL East Champions with baseball's best record under the current divisional format have fared in the postseason:

Team

Postseason

'11 Phillies

L, NLDS

'10 Phillies

L, NLCS

'06 Mets

L, NLCS

'03 Braves

L, NLDS

'99 Braves

L, WS

'97 Braves

L, NLCS

All in all, 21-game winner Gonzalez and the rest of the first team in 79 years to bring postseason baseball back to the nation's capital threw quite a victory party at Nationals Park on Monday night. Thanks to strong pitching from Gonzalez and Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper's burst of energy, and Adam LaRoche's slugging, the Nationals won enough from April through September that even a loss on the first day of October could not stop them from achieving the sort of success that seemed so far away only a few years ago.

"The puzzle came together," the 86-year-old Lerner said, "a little earlier than we expected."

"This is incredible. The excitement. The joy. The fans. Smiles on everyone's faces, the excitement that's going on," Gonzalez said. "Everyone here just witnessed history. Hopefully we can try to continue that journey."

Washington, in first place since May 22, leads Atlanta by three games with two to play in the regular season. The Braves' loss finished as the top of the ninth inning ended in Washington, and the Nationals congratulated each other in their dugout with hugs, high-fives and spiked gloves.

"The way it happened tonight doesn't really matter," said third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, the Nationals' first draft pick in June 2005. "We put ourselves in that position to have the luxury of having the other team have to play perfect baseball. We played a great 159, 160 games to get to that point, and we should be commended for that."

When Michael Morse led off the bottom of the ninth, the PA announcer informed the crowd that the home team was the champion, and when the game ended, red fireworks lit the night sky with the Capitol building off in the distance beyond left field. The scoreboard declared "NL East Division Champions."

It was the second division crown in franchise history. The Montreal Expos won the NL East in 1981, a strike-shortened season, by beating the Phillies in a best-of-five playoff.

When the game ended, the Phillies -- winners of the previous five NL East titles and already eliminated from playoff contention this year -- gathered in the middle of the diamond for regular post-victory handshakes.

The Nationals, meanwhile, collected in their home clubhouse for alcohol-spraying. They gathered around general manager Mike Rizzo and dumped bubbly over his shaved head. Harper, who has more homers (22) than years on earth (19), shared some apple cider with LaRoche's 9-year-old son, Drake.

"I'll remember being in the scrum in the middle of the clubhouse with all the guys, just elated and all together," Rizzo said later, once the excitement had moved out to the field, where some fans stayed to clap and chant. "We live with each other for seven months a year. Culmination of all that emotion and such a successful season for us."

On Sept. 20, the Nationals assured themselves of no worse than an NL wild-card berth -- and guaranteed Washington a postseason game for the first time since the Senators lost the 1933 World Series to the New York Giants.

But even on that night of success, Washington manager Davey Johnson made clear he wasn't all that interested in merely getting a chance to play in a one-game, in-or-out, wild-card playoff. No, he wanted his team to focus on bigger prizes at hand, including a division championship.

With Washington back home from a six-game road trip and on the verge of a big accomplishment, the first roar of the night from the crowd of 35,287 came a few minutes before the first pitch, when a booming voice over the loudspeakers let everyone know that the home team's "magic number is down to one!"

Ready to roar, the spectators often rose at key moments, whether their team was at the plate or in the field. Fans also reacted with applause and cheers when the out-of-town scoreboard in right-center field showed that Pittsburgh had taken a lead against Atlanta in the fifth inning.

It was quite a contrast from the mostly silent, mostly empty ballparks that were home to Nationals teams that lost 100 games apiece in 2008 and 2009. Then again, those worst-in-baseball clubs earned No. 1 overall picks in the amateur draft that turned into Strasburg and Harper.

Rizzo also oversaw a rebuilding of a farm system and two very key additions from outside the organization: Gonzalez, acquired from Oakland for four prospects last offseason; and Jayson Werth, signed away from Philadelphia with a $126 million free-agent deal in December 2010.

"These guys have been through a lot. That just goes to show you it's not easy. It's not easy getting to this point," Werth said. "Luck plays into it a lot. You've got to be on good teams -- and I'm on a good team."

Werth was brought to Washington, in part, to show the club how to win, having been a part of the Phillies' perennial division champions and 2008 World Series winners. And so it was somehow fitting that the Nationals' title came on a night when they were facing the Phillies.

"Made me mad. Yes it did. Very much so. I'm a bad loser," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said about watching Washington clinch against his club. "Nobody should be a good loser. I'm a bad loser and I always will be."

Zimmerman lived through plenty of losses in past seasons but twice decided to re-sign and stay with a team close to where he grew up in Virginia.

As he spoke Monday, Zimmerman wore a pair of white ski goggles around his neck, the better to protect his eyes from the spray of beverages.

Game notes

Nationals reliever Craig Stammen struck out all six batters he faced in the sixth and seventh. ... Harper's No. 34 Nationals uniform ranks fourth among jersey sales this season. MLB and the players' union released the list of most popular jerseys Monday. Harper trails No. 1 Derek Jeter of the Yankees, No. 2 Josh Hamilton of the Rangers and No. 3 Ichiro Suzuki of the Yankees. ... SS Jimmy Rollins was out of Philadelphia's starting lineup because of an injured right calf. ... Manuel said reliever B.J. Rosenberg (1-2) will start Tuesday for the Phillies.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

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